Search - Hangmen Also Die on DVD

Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1943 DVD Release: 01/18/2000 Format: DVD - Black and White SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 14 mins Studio: Kino Members Wishing: 7 Genres: War, War Drama, Propaganda Film, Resistance Film

Hangmen Also Die is set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. Czech loyalist Brian Donlevy assassinates the vicious Gestapo leader Heydrich, then goes into hiding. The wounded patriot is sheltered by history professor Walter Brennan, who is already under surveillance by the Nazis thanks to his veiled classroom attacks on the Third Reich. Fifth columnist Gene Lockhart arranges for the professor and 400 other Prague citizens to be rounded up as hostages, to be killed if Heydrich's assassin is not revealed. Ultimately Lockhart himself is framed by the citizenry, giving the actor full scope to cringe and cower as only he could. Persuasively directed by Fritz Lang, Hangmen Also Die was based on a story by Lang and expatriate German playwright Bertold Brecht. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brian Donlevy - Dr. Franz Svoboda
Walter Brennan - Prof. Stephan Novotny
Anna Lee - Mascha Novotny
Gene Lockhart - Emil Cruka
Dennis O'Keefe - Jan Horek

Betrayal and intrigue are the deceptions du jour in Fritz Lang's masterpiece of nightmarishly noir paranoid cinema, arriving on DVD courtesy of Kino Video. Though bare bones in regards to extra features and bells and whistles, fans of the film will nevertheless enjoy legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe's moody photography, presented here digitally mastered from a newly struck 35 mm print. Audio is presented in English Dolby Digital Mono. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide